…as civil servant seeks her removal claiming she is “corrupt”
Moorosi Tsiane
PUBLIC Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairperson, Machabana Lemphane-Letsie, must be removed from her position after she was recently charged with fraud and corruption, a civil servant has demanded.
Ms Lemphane-Letsie cannot justifiably be at the helm of probing civil servants of the very misconduct that she herself now stands accused of after she was charged in tender corruption involving M26 million, according to Ministry of Public Works and Transport procurement officer, Molise Motsukunyane.
Mr Motsukunyane is thus demanding her immediate removal as PAC Chairperson.
Mr Motsukunyane has, through his lawyer Advocate Christopher Lephuthing, written a scathing letter to Speaker of the National Assembly, Tlohang Sekhamane, calling for Ms Lemphane-Letsie’s immediate ouster as PAC Chairperson in light of her recent corruption charges linked to the Ministry of Home Affairs park homes project.
Ms Lemphane-Letsie was last month hauled before the Maseru Magistrates Court by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) over graft allegations involving a M26 million tender for the construction of park homes during her tenure as Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2019.
She was released on a M5,000 bail by Magistrate Motlatsi Kolisang.
Mr Motsukunyane accuses Ms Lemphane-Letsie of conspiring with the National Livestock Registrar in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Pitso Ramokoana, to derive a scheme which he alleges siphoned millions of Maloti through fraudulent construction deals.
He wants Ms Lemphane-Letsie removed from the PAC, arguing that she was unfit to lead the committee, claiming she was corrupt.
“It is an absurdity that a person facing corruption charges is allowed to interrogate others suspected of corruption. This circus must stop,” Mr Motsukunyane argues.
The letter further accuses the government of hypocrisy. Mr Motsukunyane argues that when he first challenged Ms Lemphane-Letsie’s appointment to the PAC in 2023 in the Constitutional Court, the Attorney General, Clerk of the National Assembly, and the DCEO reportedly failed to support his case, thus, allowing Ms Lemphane-Letsie to claim parliamentary immunity.
He accuses the same institutions of summersaulting on their stance, claiming they had brought criminal charges against her, suggesting a politically motivated double standard.
“The government used taxpayers’ money to defend her only to now turn around and charge her with the very offenses we raised. This government cannot be trusted,” the letter states.
“As you must have noticed, what brought the relationship of Hon. Letsie-Lemphane and your government to an explosive climax is corruption which was used on various occasions to benefit ministers of this very government and other role players at critical positions of corruption network (sic). The state cannot function properly in the circumstances where Parliament structures are led by Members of Parliament (MPs) who specialise in organised crimes and criminality generally.”
Mr Motsukunyane has given Parliament seven days to act or face legal action. If Ms Lemphane-Letsie is not removed, the matter will be escalated to the courts, he says.
“The PAC cannot be led by individuals deeply embedded in criminal networks. Parliament must clean house or face the consequences.”
This demand comes at a time the PAC, is in the midst of a sensitive inquiry into alleged corruption at the Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC). LEC Board chairperson, Thabo Khasipe, has gone to court to nullify the PAC inquiry but Ms Lemphane-Letsie has vowed it will continue.
Mr Khasipe is seeking an urgent court order to halt the PAC inquiry and to have all evidence presented by LEC officials expunged from the record.
But more poignantly, Mr Motsukunyane’s political boss, Public Works and Transport Minister, Matjato Moteane has found himself in the crosshairs of Ms Lempane-Letsie’s committee.
The PAC had recommended Mr Moteane’s firing as minister after his former company benefited from a M184 million project to refurbish Moshoeshoe 1 International Airport. It is not clear whether Mr Motsukunyane is merely trying to exert revenge on behalf of his boss.
Contacted for comment by the Sunday Express on Friday, Ms Lemphane-Letsie said she had not seen the letter in question and defiantly insisted she would not resign as PAC chairperson at Mr Motsukunyane’s request.
“I have not seen the letter and I don’t understand why my position as PAC chair concerns him,” Ms Lemphane-Letsie said.
“He did not appoint me as chair, so I will not step down just because he wants me to. The PAC members are the ones who chose me, and only they can decide to replace me if they wish.”